Chapter 494: Deceit and Treachery

The malice is intense.

This building, which should have been extremely luxurious, has fallen into complete, deathly silence; within the thick, pitch-black fog, illusions resembling twisted human faces constantly fall, screaming silently.

A long spear appears in Chen Yan's hand, ice and lightning flickering upon it, malice dripping down.

It can be considered fully maxed out on special effects now.

He steps lightly on the air, his body slowly flying upward along the withered staircase.

From time to time, bursts of hissing sounds ring out.

This is a building Chen Yan identified based on the conversations of Lu Fukun and the others on the Martial Dao Network.

The height of this building is the same as the one-hundred-and-twenty-first step leading to the Palace of Brocade.

Arriving at the top floor, Chen Yan looks at a patch of profound shadow curled up at the end of the corridor, its entire body burning with malicious black smoke, a long saber already stripped of its luster by malice stuck in front of it.

From the clothing on that person, one can tell the other party was once a military adjutant.

Seeing Chen Yan arrive, the curled-up person slowly raises their head, a trace of bewilderment flashing through their pitch-black eyes, then immediately lowers their head.

Chen Yan narrows his eyes and slowly approaches, his gaze pausing slightly.

He sees two formation disks beside the other party.

Explosion formation disks!

The other one is a cyan-black iron plate with no characters engraved on it; Chen Yan does not know what it is.

This is perhaps the reward for this building.

Explosion formation disks are very useful; after all, they almost blew Chi Yuexi to death back then.

Moreover, their greatest use is not killing others, but intimidation.

Chen Yan probes forward, reaching directly toward the two iron plates.

Click, click, click!

A sound of bones colliding rings out; the curled-up adjutant's pair of pitch-black eyes stare at Chen Yan, and terrifying blood energy containing malice rushes toward his face in an instant.

Chen Yan withdraws his hand.

If he takes these two formation disks, he will inevitably have to fight this adjutant.

But judging from the aura overflowing from this person, the other party's strength is above the Creation Realm.

This place is not far from the Palace of Brocade; once Chen Yan fights this person, it will inevitably attract the attention of Chen Yunyou and the others.

But if the distance were greater, the probability of the fight being discovered would not be high.

The malice in the Inner City is too exaggerated; even Chen Yunyou and the others can only perceive things within a ten-kilometer radius.

Chen Yan is not worried about exposure, but he fears accidents.

Chen Yan stands quietly, beginning to observe the changes in the Martial Dao Network.

At this moment, the four of Chen Yunyou have already reached an agreement.

Ji Chuxi is to remain on the steps before the Palace of Brocade, manifesting Blood Energy Divine Chains to open the communication formation disk.

Chen Yunyou, Lu Fukun, and Chi Yuexi are to fly toward various parts of Myriad Image Island, each carrying four to five divine chains.

It is true that Ji Chuxi can only see ten kilometers.

But his divine chains can extend continuously; according to Lu Fukun, as long as his blood energy is not exhausted, his divine chains can keep extending.

Ji Chuxi will insert his divine chains into the seventeen confirmed steps.

And Chen Yunyou and the others will find the seventeen buildings of the same height as those seventeen steps based on whether the divine chains are parallel to the ground.

At this moment, Chen Yunyou has just flown to the building where Chen Yan is, inserted one of the divine chains in his hand onto the platform on the top floor of the building, and confirmed that the divine chain is parallel to the ground.

Chen Yunyou falls into a moment of silence.

Just at this time, Ji Chuxi's voice rings out from within the communication formation disk:

"Everyone, I trust you all; please do not let me down. When the time comes, we will split the opportunities within these buildings equally and then head to the Palace of Brocade together."

After Ji Chuxi's voice rings out, Chen Yunyou's brows relax, and he immediately abandons the idea of entering this building to explore first.

As time slowly passes.

Chi Yuexi keeps flying toward the east and sees a five-story building; she immediately pulls up one of the divine chains in her hand, and upon discovering that the horizontal line of this divine chain is the same height as this high-rise building...

Chi Yuexi falls into a moment of silence.

Just at this time.

Boom!

In a distant place, a beam of red light shoots into the sky, extremely blinding.

"Damn it, what's going on!"

Where the red light shoots into the sky, Lu Fukun grinds his teeth, looking at an explosion formation disk and a bluestone formation disk in his hand, feeling as if he is holding a hot potato.

He did not expect that after he privately broke into this building and defeated the gatekeeper, a red light would actually explode into the high heavens.

Wouldn't this expose everything?

Ji Chuxi is at the Palace of Brocade; the other party can determine the location of the other three based on the direction of the divine chains.

At this moment, neither Chi Yuexi nor Chen Yunyou speaks.

"Brother Fukun, this isn't good, is it!" Ji Chuxi sneers through the communication:

"This is the direction pointed to by the divine chain connected to the twenty-third step; it is you who did not follow the rules and explored the building privately!"

"Hahaha, I was just curious, curious, my apologies." Lu Fukun laughs dryly and transmits:

"I also wanted to scout some information for everyone first."

Chi Yuexi and the others do not speak, and Lu Fukun does not feel awkward, saying:

"The building I just entered corresponds to the height of the twenty-third step, and there is a gatekeeper inside.

As long as you defeat him, you can obtain an explosion formation disk and a cyan iron plate."

"Then, this building will erupt with red light, signifying that the clearance is complete."

As Lu Fukun spoke, Chen Yunyou said indifferently:

"Since clearing the stage early will expose you, everyone had better look out for themselves."

After his voice fell, there was silence within the communication array disk.

Chi Yuexi frowned; just a moment ago, she too had the intention of exploring a building first.

As it turned out, the moment this thought appeared, Lu Fukun took the first step, and he was exposed to boot.

Chi Yuexi looked silently at the building in front of her and dismissed the idea of exploring it ahead of time.

But she also did not intend to honestly cooperate with the others.

Everyone in their hearts likes to scheme; the only difference is whether the scheme succeeds or not.

Immediately, Chi Yuexi did not insert this divine chain into this building, but instead continued to fly toward the distance.

She arrived before another building that was a few meters taller than the previous one and inserted the divine chain horizontally into this building.

A smile appeared on the corner of Chi Yuexi's mouth, and she immediately communicated:

"Ji Chuxi, I have inserted one into a small building that should be at the same height as the fifth step."

"Mm, I see it; the divine chain on the fifth step has become parallel to the ground," Ji Chuxi communicated.

A trace of a smile appeared on the corner of Chi Yuexi's mouth.

Now, she not only had to figure out the orientation of all the buildings she found, but also remember the locations of the buildings found by others.

As long as she waited for everyone to finish binding their buildings, they would all return to the Jinzhi Palace to discuss the distribution; at that time, she could choose not to return and then clear the stage first.

As long as others could not catch her, then the fortuitous encounter would be hers.

After leaving the Ten Thousand Phases Island, no one could say anything to her; after all, who stipulated that one must cooperate fairly?

The honest ones were already dead.

Those who were not honest could not stand out too early either.

Just like Bing Yi, who stood out too quickly; even if a monster, one must die.

Therefore, Chi Yuexi chose to stand out now; she had already awakened the Will Martial Dao, and by relying on this special cyan iron plate to enter the Jinzhi Palace, this trip would be a complete harvest.

Thinking this way, Chi Yuexi continued to fly toward other directions.

At the same time.

Chen Yan appeared before the building that Chi Yuexi had already found but had not marked.

Chen Yan stepped into this building and went all the way to the top floor.

A tall figure stood at the end.

The opponent's entire body burned with malicious flames, was covered in cracks, and was dressed in a suit of pitch-black battle armor.

Ink-black hair flared wildly, like black flood dragons waiting to devour people.

In front of him, a pitch-black great spear also stood.

Chen Yan scanned behind the opponent, where there was also a blasting array disk and a cyan stone iron plate.

The moment the man saw Chen Yan, he slowly reached out one hand toward the great spear.

The next moment.

Crack!

The light within the corridor shattered, and malice, thunder, and cold ice condensed into a brilliant spear light.

Pfft!

The man's body was instantly pierced through by the long spear and torn apart by the thunder.

"So weak."

Chen Yan murmured; it was far weaker than the gatekeeper he had encountered before.

Right, this building was level with the fifth step.

Does that mean the higher the step it is level with, the stronger the gatekeeper inside will be?

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes, then stored the blasting array disk and that cyan iron plate into his origin space.

Inside the origin space, the Ten Thousand Prisons Nether Thunder was hissing incessantly at this moment.

It was being affected by the malice, and it was likely struggling to endure it.

It had been quite comfortable staying inside Chen Yan's body, but since Chen Yan had now become an Ancient God Beast, the origin space was inevitably affected as well.

"Endure it a little," Chen Yan said:

"You are, after all, a Sun-level divine seed."

Sss...

The Ten Thousand Prisons Nether Thunder flicked its thunder tongue.

It was also at this moment.

Boom!

A red light instantly shot into the sky from the building where Chen Yan was.

Chi Yuexi, who had just confirmed the location of a building, saw her pupils shrink; she hurriedly looked toward the rear, her red lips parting slightly.

"What's the situation? This time it really wasn't me."

Within the communication array disk, Lu Fukun's voice hurriedly sounded.

"Miss Chi, this isn't very good," Ji Chuxi's voice was gentle, but carried a trace of coldness.

"It wasn't me!" Chi Yuexi frowned and said.

"But, in that direction, only Miss Chi is present," Ji Chuxi laughed gently, as if seeing through a little girl's trick, carrying a hint of mockery.

"Someone is framing me!" Chi Yuexi said:

"You cannot judge that it was me just because I am here; something like a simple clone could also carry the divine chain and run around aimlessly to confuse you."

"Then it could hide behind me and enter the building to clear the challenge in advance!"

Chi Yuexi gritted her teeth; it must be this way.

That person must be following closely behind her; after all, she had not inserted the chain into that building at all.

"Chi Yuexi, why bother quibbling? Lu Fukun and I only met once five minutes ago." Chen Yunyou spoke indifferently:

"It is impossible for him to fly that far in such a short time."

"Damn it, the two of you are conspiring to harm me!" Chi Yuexi's expression was icy.

She saw it clearly; she had been schemed against.

If it was not her, and not Lu Fukun or Chen Yunyou, then who else could it be?

Ji Chuxi had been at the Jin Palace the entire time.

That meant Lu Fukun and Chen Yunyou were working together to frame her.

Damn it.

She had not even made a move yet.

It was also at this moment that Ji Chuxi's voice rang out again:

"I have screened those two; based on my understanding of you, you could not be so untrustworthy."

Chi Yuexi's expression shifted slightly:

"Young Master Ji still understands me best."

"Mm." Ji Chuxi spoke:

"It does not matter. I assume they would not dare to continue seizing the opportunities within the buildings. You and I shall join forces, and later, the two of us will deal with them together."

A hint of a smile appeared in Chi Yuexi's eyes:

"I have the exact same intention."

Clearly, Ji Chuxi had also begun to worry about Lu Fukun and Chen Yunyou joining forces.

He wanted to find a teammate for himself in advance.

At this time, Chen Yunyou and Lu Fukun were also deep in thought; they had also sensed that something was not quite right.

The matter of the buildings being cleared in advance was soon no longer mentioned by anyone.

Everyone seemed to have entered an atmosphere of silence.

Chi Yuexi continued to search for buildings.

Time passed slowly.

Boom!

Another pillar of light shot up into the sky.

Chi Yuexi gritted her teeth.

Again!

The location where that red light erupted was the very direction of the building she had just found!

"Chi Yuexi, you have gone too far!" Lu Fukun shouted in a rage.

"A thief crying 'stop thief'!" Chi Yuexi sneered.

"I am a thief?" Lu Fukun was so angry he laughed:

"Bitch, who are you talking about!"

"You are calling me a bitch?!" Cold light appeared in Chi Yuexi's eyes.

"If you are not a bitch, then who is?" Lu Fukun sneered:

"Before, you all captured Bing Yi together, but Bing Yi was not caught, and only you have been recuperating from injuries. Tell me, has he been hiding in your cultivation room?!"

Chi Yuexi frowned; Lu Fukun had actually guessed this far. She said in a low voice:

"Bing Yi was still a guest advisor of your Lu Province. When he was about to escape from the Divine General Temple, you had no intention of helping him at all. You are a petty person!"

Lu Fukun was furious:

"Why should I save him? Because of him..."

"My Lu Province is drifting further and further away from Chen Province, Ji Province, and your Chi Province. I do this for the Five Clans, yet you say I am a petty person!"

Chi Yuexi and Lu Fukun began to curse at each other incessantly.

"Enough!" Chen Yunyou said in a low voice:

"What is the point of arguing back and forth over a dead man?"

Chen Yunyou stood high above the sky, his expression indifferent, and threw a punch toward the heavens.

Screech!

A white egret with feathers whiter than snow darted into the clouds, spotless and pure. Its scorching white flames tore through the malice and illuminated the surroundings.

"Do you see it? Come to me, all of you. The three of us will act together. Whoever does not come is the one clearing the buildings in advance!"

As Chen Yunyou's voice fell, Chi Yuexi and Lu Fukun stopped arguing.

This was a blood-energy mark he had unleashed using his Chen Clan lineage; at this moment, it had actually pierced through the malice, allowing everyone in the inner city to see it.

It was also at this moment.

With a boom.

A red light shot up into the sky once again.

Another building had been cleared in advance.

Chi Yuexi gritted her teeth, endless coldness erupting from the depths of her eyes.

Arrogant!

This building was only ten miles away from her!

It was precisely the building she had just marked.